Thurs 1 Nov

• Workday: Develop personas. Then
• Return to your goals to refine user goals with persona information.
• Use personas ad revised goals to create a content inventory. Site Project: Personas and Content Inventories
• Example content inventories:
• FiberArts
• NorthernLights

Tues 6 Nov

• review persona for each group
• review goals for each persona
• review content inventory
• Chap 3: Experience Design
• SiteProjectExperienceDesign

Thurs 8 Nov

• work day: all present.
• work on site maps - navigation - wireframes -
• ready by Tues 13 Nov
• for Tues, 13 Nov, read chap 4: visual design, especially designing with grids

Tues 13 Nov

• review maps, nav, wireframes
• determine number of templates, review grid layout
• set up on server?

Thurs 15 Nov

• assign tasks: translate wireframes, create templates, draft content
• review some elements of visual design, chap 4: content and nav elements
• BFA Writing Promo

• chap 4: Visual Design
• visual hierarchy
• showing relationships: emphasis and meaning
• using headings, fonts, and styles

Tues 16 Oct

• f2f work with Site Project: Requirements Gathering

• ID the goals
• Develop your two sentence concept statement into a first draft of a purpose statement.
• Look for and critique related sites: see what others have done, how they do it, and find your site's niche.
• Plan who to interview/visit, questions to ask, how to take notes, how to get those notes on the wiki, how to divide up the work.

Thurs 18 Oct

• Use your main group page as you need to: to plan, make connections, set schedules and make assignments. Update it as your project develops.
• Workday: continue Site Project: Requirements Gathering

Deadline: By Saturday 20 Oct midnight

• We'll look at interview questions in class on Tuesday, 23 Oct.
• Interviews should be finished and notes posted by Tues, 30 Oct. Develop personas.

for Tues 23 Oct

• print the privacy window at p. 258. Printing works on both Mac and Windows side.
• print at end of page, showing scrolling text
• Scrolling text does not appear using Mac Firefox v. 2. Mac side, use Safari.

• In this mod, you create a set of rollover controls for images and text. Print at the end of p. 296. Preview the page in a browser, point to a number to show an image and text, and print. The rest of the mod has you create a slide show from the same images and texts.
• layers are now called divs

Tues 25 Oct

• review and refine interview questions
• decide who to interview and split up the work

Thurs 25 Oct

• mods 11 and 12 due
• all Site Research (site reviews and connections) due. Refined goals.
• workday
• start the session with refined questions, who to interview and how to split up the work
• Decide how to collect and where to post interview notes. Other groups have posted interview notes at the bottom of the questions page, listed by who interviewed. Eg: JustinsInverviews ...

Thurs - Tues

• Interview and take notes on your interviews: taking notes (33) and recording key findings (34) for each interview. Post interview notes to wiki.

Tues 30 Oct

• In class: review your goals, positioning, land (speculative) user goals.
• Chap 3: Experience Design. Review: user personas and task flows
• Start to develop personas from interview notes: Site Project: Personas and Content Inventories.
• Substantial development of personas by Thursday, end of class.

Thurs 11 Oct

• Groups, intro wiki, getting organized
• GettingStarted
• SiteEditingGuides
• Use your main group page as you need to: to plan, make connections, set schedules and make assignments. Update it as your project develops.
• Expect to be working on the project outside of class - both face to face and on the net. Figure 2 hours for every hour of classtime.
• Bring your copy of Summer and Summers to class each day. You'll need to refer to it.

• Mod 9: Print one page at the end of p 219 (cropped images)
• Mod 10: p;. 227. Arrange the elements on the page and print. p. 235. Print with the logo on the right hand side of the page.

Tues 25 Sept

• no class

Thurs 27 Sept

• Class canceled: family emergency. Meet as usual on Tuesday, 2 Oct.

Tues 2 Oct

• part 3 of PortfolioSitePrototypeProject due. Visual design and page mock ups. pp. 8 - 10. Review and discuss how your visual design choices connect with your goals.
• Mods 5 and 6 due/

Thurs 4 Oct

• Part 4 due: Content: nomenclature, introductory text, blurbs, etc. Add typed content to page mockups. Usual procedure.

• New mod pdfs and new Dreamweaver files available. Replace your current files with the new set.
• Mods 7 and 8 for Tues, 9 Oct.
• Mod 7: Print a page - any page showing the Spry menu you created.

• Before step 1: There are three buttons at the bottom left of the CSS Styles panel. One looks like a bullet list, the next has A B and a down arrow on it, and the third has two ** and a down arrow. Click the third one (the one with asterisks) to show the Show only set properties. The rest of the mod should be ok.

Chap. 7 is shorter than others, and seem to end suddenly, after a confidence check. It does end on p 166.

• Mod 8: Print at the end of p 199

Tues 9 Oct

• Mods 7 and 8 due.
• Hand in materials from PortfolioSitePrototypeProject.Isolate the final versions from the draft versions.
• Start the main project for this course.
• Chap 2: read it for review in class.
• SiteProjectRequirementsGathering

For Tues, 11 Sept

• Mods 1 and 2 complete. Hand in print outs.
• Read, annotate, Summers and Summers, chap 1
• A little more wireframing: PageDescriptionAnnotatedWireframesUsability
• Overachievers: refer to Design of Sites, chap 1 and 2.

Tues 11 Sept

• Put up wireframes, part 2 and discuss

Thurs 13 Sept

Hand in wireframes from both exercises

• Hand in print outs from mods 1 and 2
• Start mods 3 and 4. Due next Tues.
  • Mod 3: p. 81. Print any page using the template.
  • Mod 4: p 112. Preview page in browser and print. The background might not print, depending on how you have your browser set.
• Review / discuss chap 1 to start the first project: PortfolioSitePrototypeProject

Tues 18 Sept

• Read the chapter intro text - it gives some concepts.
• If somethihng doesn't work, delete, back up, try again.
• Watch for problems: the text IS is in draft
• Alert: Some of the F-keys used in the Dreamweaver text conflict with the F-key assignments on the Mac. When the Dreamweaver text refers to using any F-keys ([F8] or [F12] for instance) use the menu open given instead.
• The [Cmd] key equivalents work ok on both platforms.
• Mods 3 and 4 due. Start Mods 5 and 6.
  • Print Mod 5: p 137. When you complete the form, preview it in a browser, fill it out, and then print it.
  • Print Mod 6: When you complete the mod, you'll have created a quiz. Take the quiz and print out the last frame, the one that says "I'd like to take this test again." This might be tricky to print out; frames often are.

• Part 1 of Portfolio Site Prototype Project due. Hang them up to discuss / revise.

Thurs 20 Sept

• Part 2 of Portfolio Site Prototype Project due. Summers and Suummers, pp 4 - 8: Site maps and wireframses (note the plurals). Hang them up to discuss / revise.

Tues 4 Sept

• Bring a flash drive!
• Pick up pdfs of chaps 1 - 4 and files for Dreamweaver Essentials CS3.
  • Work thorough mods 1 and 2 for Tues, 11 Sept.
  • Mod 1: Print out your index page with your email address on it at the end of the chapter.
  • Mod 2: Print out the table you worked on at p. 48
  • Mod 2: Print out the button bar layout at p. 60
• If you run into problems with the DW Essentials text, check NotesOnDreamweaverEssentialsCS3. If there's no solution or note about the issue, leave one.

• We'll look at page wireframes
• We'll look a some more sites with a focus on usability.

Thurs 6 Sept

• a little more on usability
  • go to selected sites. wireframe of page and usability notes
  • Web Design Handlist

Tues 28 Aug

• Introductions
• CourseStatement

Thurs, 30 Aug

• News: I'll distribute the first pdfs of Dreamweaver Essentials CS3 next Tuesday, 4 Sept. You'll have until the following Tuesday to work through them.

• Have sketch paper and pencils/markers
• How the Internet works (notes)
• Example pages on delicious
• Describing websites: using neutral language, taking a balcony view
• Describing websites: making wireframes and naming the parts: Web Design Handlist

for Tues, 4 Sept

• PageDescriptionAnnotatedWireframes using selected pages

CourseSyllabusF2006

CourseSyllabusF2007?

Thurs 30 Nov

• workday

Tues 5 Dec

• class meets. Qs on chap 5* upload what you have

Thurs 7 Dec

• workday

• Deadline: Midnight, Friday 20 Oct All user interviews and research done.
• Finals of personas and well-developed content inventory due midnight Friday, 27 Oct.
• Thurs, 2 Nov: Content inventory, site maps, nav, wireframes due present and review in class
• Tues, 21 Nov: Dreamweaver page layouts / templates and furniture.

• SiteProjectRequirementsGathering
• Site Project: Personas and Content Inventories
• Site Project: Experience Design: Site maps, wireframes and navigation.
• Some examples

Tues 28 Nov

• Meet to touch base
• Review what's been uploaded
• Upload what you have
• All - and especially writers - read Chap 5: Creating Effective Content

Tues 12 Dec

• class meets!
• some final notes

• Start a new page titled FinalPresentation
• Update task list: list who did what
• Review your original site concept and goals. Present the original goals, and if they need updating, add an updated version.
• Use the rest of the page for your individual notes. You can refer to these as you present, and I will refer to these as I review.
• You'll have 15 - 20 minutes, plus some time for questions. Everyone should present. How you divvy up the presenting is your decision.
• Speak mainly to how the site is designed to meet users' needs and priorities. Speak not only to the finished site but to the process: Design problems you ran into and how you solved them.
• To prepare, you might review the Final Checklists at the end of chaps 2 - 5. You'll find topics to address that you can select from.

• For a final review, I'll be looking at
  • the project itself: effectiveness at meeting your stated goals using the principles in Summers and Summers - 100
  • individually: a demonstrated understanding of principles of web design as presented in the Summers and Summers and in class.

Final

• Friday, Dec 15, 1:00 - 3:00
• Each group will present what they have, talk about how they made choices, problems, success, and how their design decisions go back to their user profiles.

Thurs 16 Nov

• Meet in class. Quiz on visual design elements.
• Then working time.

Tues 21 Nov

• Meet in class to touch base.
• Deadline for Dreamweaver page templates and visual furniture!
• Upload what you have, even if it's rough.

Tues, 7 Nov

• class meets face to face
• move to Dreamweaver to set up site and create templates.
• discuss visual design from chap 4 and creating design mock ups.
• Make task assignments. Start Task Assignment area on your project page. Name people, tasks, due dates, and completed or not. Begin to record your work. Deadline for task assignments: Thursday, 9 Nov.

Thurs, 9 Nov

• Morgan is presenting in Mankato. Workday.

Tues 14 Nov

Sun 29 Oct

Have a good work day on Tuesday, and I'll see everyone on Thursday. Bring your site maps, etc.

Tues 31 Oct:

• Work day. Morgan is out of town but you can still meet to work.

• develop site maps, wireframes, and navigation for each level or type of page on your site.
• update your content inventory
• assign tasks: Decide on how to split up the tasks and responsibilities

Thurs 2 Nov

• Meet in class to review work
• '''Content inventory, site maps, nav, wireframes due
• present and review in class'''
• for Tues, 7 Nov: Read and markup chap 4: Visual Design

• Finals of personas and well-developed content inventory due midnight Friday, 27 Oct.

• Deadline: Midnight, Friday 20 Oct All user interviews and research done. Interview notes posted.
• For Tues, 24 Oct, read and annotate chap 3 Summers and Summers.

Tues 24 Oct

• Meet in class. Chapter 3: User personas
• Start Site Project: Personas and Content Inventories
• Drafts of personas posted by classtime, Thurs, 26 Oct.
• Develop your content inventory as you develop the personas.
• Start designating tasks to group members. Keep track of who's doing what on your project page.

Thurs 26 Oct

• Meet in class.
• Review: How are personas developing? Names, contexts, user goals...
• Start Site Project: Experience Design: Site maps, wireframes and navigation. Update: Don't prepare visual mock ups yet.
• Some examples
• Finals of personas and well-developed content inventory due midnight Friday, 27 Oct.

Tues 10 Oct

• Start Site Project: Requirements Gathering
• Use your main group page as you need to: to plan, make connections, set schedules and make assignments. Update it as your project moves forward.
• Expect to be working on the project outside of class - both face to face and on the net. Figure 2 hours for every hour of classtime.
• Bring your copy of Summer and Summers to class each day. You'll need to refer to it.

Thurs 12 Oct

• Workday: continue Site Project: Requirements Gathering
• Deadline: By Thursday midnight, you should have your site positioning research done and posted, user groups selected, and interview questions posted.
• You can begin interviewing and taking notes on your interviews once you have your interview questions formed. (taking notes (33) and key findings (34) for each interview)

Tues 17 Oct

• Touch base: Everyone stop by HS 109 at noon to compare notes.
• User interviews: revising interview questions, taking notes (33) and key findings (34) for each interview
• Hand in print outs for Mod 11.

Thurs 19 Oct

• Workday. You might want to meet f2f.
• Deadline: Midnight, Friday 20 Oct All user interviews and research done. Interview notes posted.
• For Tues, 24 Oct, read and annotate chap 3 Summers and Summers.

Thurs 5 Oct

• Intro to wiki
• for Tues, 10 Oct: SetUpAWikiNamePage
• finding your group
• On your group site page: develop at 1 - 2 sentence statement of what you might offer with your proposed site: a site concept that might be worth exploring to see if a site is necessary or appropriate. This can be in the form of a problem-solution statement, and the potential users you have in mind: who are they. HuntingAndFishing has a good example.
• You can begin to collect early notes on what to include for content. You can test these ideas when you begin to interview potential users.

Tues 10 Oct

• Debrief on connecting goals with design choices: Examples. 10 mins.
• Work with chap 2 in Summers and Summers.
• Start Site Project: Requirements Gathering
• ID goals
• Develop your two sentence concept statement into a first draft of a purpose statement.
• Plan who to interview/visit, questions to ask, how to take notes, how to get those notes on the wiki, how to divide up the work.

• Use your main group page as you need to: to plan, make connections, set schedules and make assignments. Update it as your project moves forward.
• Expect to be working on the project outside of class - both face to face and on the net. Figure 2 hours for every hour of classtime.
• Bring your copy of Summer and Summers to class each day. You'll need to refer to it.

Start the site project

Tues 3 Oct

• Mods 7 (Forms) and 8 (Importing MS Word docs) due.
• Hand in completed project materials. Include a brief (one-page tops) statement (word processed) indicating how your final design addresses your stated goals. Revise your materials so that your prototype clearly connects with the goals you have stated. That might mean revising your goals or your prototypes.
• Read Summers, chap 2 to gain an overview of the first phase of the project, some conceptions of what might work as a site, and a sense of what you'll be doing for requirements gathering (eg: goal setting, site positioning research, observing and interviewing users).
• Come with some ideas for sites that can be created by 4 - 5 people over 9 weeks that address an existing need for a (local) audience.
• You will be either/or selling your idea to get group members, or looking for a group to join on Tuesday.

• group name - not a project name because you won't know it yet.
• the people in your group
• 1 - 2 sentence statement of what you might offer with your proposed site: a site concept that might be worth exploring to see if a site is necessary or appropriate. This can be in the form of a problem-solution statement.
• the potential users you have in mind: who are they.

Tues, 12 Sept

• Mods 1 and 2 due. Start 3 and 4, due Tues, 19 Sept.
  • Mod 3: print final version of Quark Express page
  • Mod 4: tba
• Start Summers and Summers, chap 1: Portfolio Site Prototype Project

Thurs 14 Sept

• Part 1 of Portfolio Site Prototype Project due

Tues 19 Sept

• Mods 3 and 4 due. Start 5 and 6
• Part 2 of Portfolio Site Prototype Project

Thurs 21 Sept

• Part 3 of Portfolio Site Prototype Project

Tues 26 Sept

• no classes

Thurs 28 Sept

• Mods 5 and 6 due. Start 7 and 8
• Review Part 4 of Portfolio Site Prototype Project
• Revision of goals?

• How the Internet works (notes)

for Tues, 5 Sept

• http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/ - MIT News Office. Look around the site enough to sketch and annotate a representative page. In case you're courious, here's MITs home page: http://web.mit.edu/
• http://writing.colostate.edu/ - Wrting@CSU: Look around the site enough to find a representative page to work with. There may be more than one type of page.

• hand in PageDescriptionAnnotatedWireframes
• review how Essentials is going.
• sites in class: focus on usability / user centered design
• create wireframes and usability notes in class

Thurs, 7 Sept

• debrief on page description. Summers and Summers, p 7
• wireframes and notes: usability
• for Tues, read Summers and Summers, chap 1.

• Pay special attention to the nomenclature of the headings and global nav links
• In a margin or on a separate page, Include some brief observations on usability: What features or elements seem to aid usability?
• http://www.getridofthings.com/index.html. Index page and a representative content page
• http://www.grandforksherald.com/ Index page and representative news story page

Thur, 31 Aug

• Observing websites: making wireframes and naming the parts: Web Design Handlist

• SiteDescriptionAnnotatedWireframes
• Essentials, modules 1 and 2

Tues, 5 Sept

• SiteDescriptionAnnotatedWireframes due
• Essentials, modules 1 and 2 due. print out
• more web sites in class, looking at
  • usability
  • rhetorical effectiveness

Thurs 7 Sept

• observing websites: site maps
• map sites in class

• ...

Weeks 1 - 2

• Observing websites: wireframes, sketches, maps
• Observing websites: naming the parts: Web Design Handlist

Weeks 3 - 4

• Summers and Summers, chap 1: Portfolio Site Prototype Project

Weeks 5 - 13: The Project

• forming groups
• Summers, chap 2: Requirements Gathering
• ...

Assignments and plans will first be posted to the Web Design home page and then moved to this page as the course progresses.

• Using the wiki

Course Syllabus

Unit assignments and plans will be posted to the Web Design home page and be moved to this page as the course progresses.

Weeks 1 - 2

• Introductions
• How the Internet works
• Observing websites: neutral language, balcony view
• Observing websites: naming the parts
• Essentials, mods 1 and 2

Weeks 3 - 4

• Summers and Summers, chap 1: Creating a Portfolio Site
• Essentials, mods 3 and 4